A
Atomix
Guest
Alright, I'm just gonna tell it like it is. I had no intention of being politically correct, whatsoever. I know it it's completely contrary to the saga, but I just wanted to have a little fun. So forget the technical stuff and just let your imagination take it away for a little bit. 
I walked in the “R&D” room, which was in actuality a storage unit we had scrounged from a now abandoned and condemned City 12, and looked at Jeff. He was working. Always working. He was a top-notch leader, he had gotten their small band of rebels out of situations worse than this plenty of times, always encouraging, without him, I don’t know where the hell we’d be right now, but as a husband, he lacked in the attention department. I loved him dearly nevertheless. As I tugged on his shirt I felt his energy grow frustrated, as I had most likely agitated him from his work on the spectrometer. Without emerging from the massive machine, he called out, “What is it, dear?” I gently reminded him of our son’s absence, “Jeff, Riley’s still out, and it’s almost dark, can you please go-“ but I was cut off by Riley himself, storming into the room as if on cue. He was 12 years old, I knew he had been up to no good by the cuts on his arms and his dirty jumpsuit, which we only had two of each. He was carrying a piece of metal. He seemed anxious, “Dad! Look at this!” finally, after some adjustments, Jeff rolled out, wiping his sweat and dirt with a rag. He was groggy and unkept, you could tell it had been a long day. Curiously taking the metal from his son, I noticed a glimpse of it, it read “BLACK MESA”. My son and I waited anxiously as Jeff scratched his beard. “Black Mesa…” he muttered, “Hasn’t been around since the resonance cascade almost 30 years ago…why it was this very organization that made a large-scale antimass spectrometer, the very one we are trying to replicate! This…they are responsible for the Xeninite Invasion…The Free Man!” I noticed Riley’s eyes widen, “You mean…Gordon Freeman? THE Gordon Freeman?!” Jeff gave him a look of affirmation. As I was walking out to fix dinner I could almost feel my son’s grin light up the room as Jeff told him of their new mission.
The next day was breakfast, shower, then we were off The Site. That is, the place where Riley found the remains of Black Mesa. Ever since then, two months ago, we have been dedicating our lives to recovering parts that may help our spectrometer become operational. I walked over to Jeff meticulously, carefully avoiding sharp metal and glass. I touched his shoulder and squatted beside him, “Any luck, J?” J was the nickname our son had made for him before he could pronounce ‘Jeff’. It stuck, so now we say it to lighten the mood. But Jeff didn’t respond. His face was pale and he was cold. He was quivering, holding something in his hands. It looked like some kind of orange mineral. It was quite beautiful, reflecting off the sunlight so brilliantly compared to the other things in this junk heap it was like a diamond in the rough. Before I could inquire as to what it was, he darted away toward the house, faster than I’ve ever seen him run. I got Riley and ran after him. “God damn,” I muttered under my breath, “Why’d I have to marry a genius.”
I met him at the house , huffing, inserting the orange crystal into the anti-spec and rapidly tapping commands into his makeshift keypad. I didn’t know what was going on, and frankly I was quite scared. “This is it…” he said softly at first, “THIS IS IT!” The anti-spec whirred to life, it’s yellow rays were almost pretty. It began rotating, first slowly, then increasingly faster. Then, when I thought something was going to happen, I remember a brilliant flash of light, and my ears popping. I felt weightless and emotionless, I thought for sure I was dead.The blast of the machine had killed me in an instant, I figured. But I soon regained composure to find the sight of my husband lying on the floor next to a man in a blue suit, the room was spinning. Then, blackness.
“Mr. Tate…” said an evil, snake-like voice. He was talking to my husband, “I am here to reprimand you for your misdeeds you know not to tamper with forces you cannot handle…My e-e-e-emppl-oyers would be greatly disappointed if they discovered I let a sssssimple rebel disrupt my operation and let me tell you, that machine can turn the tide of the world in mere sssssecondsss…”
I let out a grunt as a smacked down on a surface unknown. I woke up to find a blur of green overshadowing the world. I was no longer on earth. Then there he was, standing as still as could be, briefcase in hand. His eyes were a piercing green. I hated him already. “You sssseee…” he slithered, “This is what you are upsetting Xen the balance of the universssse is at stake do you understand? I apologize for my cruelty but you cannot exist with this knowledge-g-ge.” This was all a dream, it had to be. Soon I would wake up, and everything would be gone. But it wasn’t. I knew I had to do something. I didn’t know where my son or my husband were but I just…had to do something. With a roar I charged at the man in the suit, landing a punch right to his jawbone. I was caught off guard when my fist sailed through his face, like a ghost. He glared at me, and I was suddenly suspended where I stood.
“Hmm…to defy a being of great power such as myself is commendablllle Mr. Freeman could use you, Alyx.” I struggled to break free, “How the hell do you know my name?! What do you want?!” Then there was blackness. An all-too-familiar engulfing darkness. I woke up in a room with a tall man gazing over me questionably. Before I could get a word out, the aged man bent down and began speaking softly to me, “Alyx, you’ve just experience a car crash, I am your father, Eli. You are in the year 2010 in a rebel base pit against the Combine, who are taking over. I have worked at Black Mesa for 4 years, and you have known about my operation there. Your goal is to help Gordon Freeman…” I groggily nodded, not exactly knowing what was going on. But I was conscious enough to see the man in blue smile, then vanish within the blink of an eye. Eli, trying to ease the mood, motioned for me to take a look around. I remained lazily in my slumped position, reaching an all time adrenaline low. He pointed at his spectrometer. I laughed, then asked if he had a beer.
END
I walked in the “R&D” room, which was in actuality a storage unit we had scrounged from a now abandoned and condemned City 12, and looked at Jeff. He was working. Always working. He was a top-notch leader, he had gotten their small band of rebels out of situations worse than this plenty of times, always encouraging, without him, I don’t know where the hell we’d be right now, but as a husband, he lacked in the attention department. I loved him dearly nevertheless. As I tugged on his shirt I felt his energy grow frustrated, as I had most likely agitated him from his work on the spectrometer. Without emerging from the massive machine, he called out, “What is it, dear?” I gently reminded him of our son’s absence, “Jeff, Riley’s still out, and it’s almost dark, can you please go-“ but I was cut off by Riley himself, storming into the room as if on cue. He was 12 years old, I knew he had been up to no good by the cuts on his arms and his dirty jumpsuit, which we only had two of each. He was carrying a piece of metal. He seemed anxious, “Dad! Look at this!” finally, after some adjustments, Jeff rolled out, wiping his sweat and dirt with a rag. He was groggy and unkept, you could tell it had been a long day. Curiously taking the metal from his son, I noticed a glimpse of it, it read “BLACK MESA”. My son and I waited anxiously as Jeff scratched his beard. “Black Mesa…” he muttered, “Hasn’t been around since the resonance cascade almost 30 years ago…why it was this very organization that made a large-scale antimass spectrometer, the very one we are trying to replicate! This…they are responsible for the Xeninite Invasion…The Free Man!” I noticed Riley’s eyes widen, “You mean…Gordon Freeman? THE Gordon Freeman?!” Jeff gave him a look of affirmation. As I was walking out to fix dinner I could almost feel my son’s grin light up the room as Jeff told him of their new mission.
The next day was breakfast, shower, then we were off The Site. That is, the place where Riley found the remains of Black Mesa. Ever since then, two months ago, we have been dedicating our lives to recovering parts that may help our spectrometer become operational. I walked over to Jeff meticulously, carefully avoiding sharp metal and glass. I touched his shoulder and squatted beside him, “Any luck, J?” J was the nickname our son had made for him before he could pronounce ‘Jeff’. It stuck, so now we say it to lighten the mood. But Jeff didn’t respond. His face was pale and he was cold. He was quivering, holding something in his hands. It looked like some kind of orange mineral. It was quite beautiful, reflecting off the sunlight so brilliantly compared to the other things in this junk heap it was like a diamond in the rough. Before I could inquire as to what it was, he darted away toward the house, faster than I’ve ever seen him run. I got Riley and ran after him. “God damn,” I muttered under my breath, “Why’d I have to marry a genius.”
I met him at the house , huffing, inserting the orange crystal into the anti-spec and rapidly tapping commands into his makeshift keypad. I didn’t know what was going on, and frankly I was quite scared. “This is it…” he said softly at first, “THIS IS IT!” The anti-spec whirred to life, it’s yellow rays were almost pretty. It began rotating, first slowly, then increasingly faster. Then, when I thought something was going to happen, I remember a brilliant flash of light, and my ears popping. I felt weightless and emotionless, I thought for sure I was dead.The blast of the machine had killed me in an instant, I figured. But I soon regained composure to find the sight of my husband lying on the floor next to a man in a blue suit, the room was spinning. Then, blackness.
“Mr. Tate…” said an evil, snake-like voice. He was talking to my husband, “I am here to reprimand you for your misdeeds you know not to tamper with forces you cannot handle…My e-e-e-emppl-oyers would be greatly disappointed if they discovered I let a sssssimple rebel disrupt my operation and let me tell you, that machine can turn the tide of the world in mere sssssecondsss…”
I let out a grunt as a smacked down on a surface unknown. I woke up to find a blur of green overshadowing the world. I was no longer on earth. Then there he was, standing as still as could be, briefcase in hand. His eyes were a piercing green. I hated him already. “You sssseee…” he slithered, “This is what you are upsetting Xen the balance of the universssse is at stake do you understand? I apologize for my cruelty but you cannot exist with this knowledge-g-ge.” This was all a dream, it had to be. Soon I would wake up, and everything would be gone. But it wasn’t. I knew I had to do something. I didn’t know where my son or my husband were but I just…had to do something. With a roar I charged at the man in the suit, landing a punch right to his jawbone. I was caught off guard when my fist sailed through his face, like a ghost. He glared at me, and I was suddenly suspended where I stood.
“Hmm…to defy a being of great power such as myself is commendablllle Mr. Freeman could use you, Alyx.” I struggled to break free, “How the hell do you know my name?! What do you want?!” Then there was blackness. An all-too-familiar engulfing darkness. I woke up in a room with a tall man gazing over me questionably. Before I could get a word out, the aged man bent down and began speaking softly to me, “Alyx, you’ve just experience a car crash, I am your father, Eli. You are in the year 2010 in a rebel base pit against the Combine, who are taking over. I have worked at Black Mesa for 4 years, and you have known about my operation there. Your goal is to help Gordon Freeman…” I groggily nodded, not exactly knowing what was going on. But I was conscious enough to see the man in blue smile, then vanish within the blink of an eye. Eli, trying to ease the mood, motioned for me to take a look around. I remained lazily in my slumped position, reaching an all time adrenaline low. He pointed at his spectrometer. I laughed, then asked if he had a beer.
END
